India renews call for 'justice' after Rubio urges de-escalation

Sudhi Ranjan Sen, Swati Gupta and Kamran Haider, Bloomberg News on May 1, 2025

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Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar reiterated that “perpetrators, backers and planners” of an attack that killed dozens of people in Indian-controlled Kashmir must be brought to justice, hours after speaking with his U.S. counterpart Marco Rubio who had sought to de-escalate tensions.

Secretary of State Rubio had spoken with top officials from India and Pakistan on Wednesday, asking them to “maintain peace and security in South Asia.” He told Shehbaz Sharif, Pakistan’s prime minister, of the need to condemn the attack and re-establish direct communications, according to a statement from the State Department.

Relations between the nuclear-armed nations and longtime adversaries have rapidly deteriorated in the wake of the attack last week, which India and the U.S. have called an act of terrorism. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has accused Pakistan of involvement and vowed to punish those responsible. Pakistan has denied any links to the assault and warned of retaliation if India takes military action.

Jaishankar said in an X post Thursday that he discussed the attack in Kashmir with Rubio on April 30. “Its perpetrators, backers and planners must be brought to justice,” he said.

Sharif’s advisor on political affairs, Rana Sana Ullah Khan, said on Thursday Pakistan is ready to join a probe by Indian officials into the attack during an interview with Geo News. “A war between two nuclear powers doesn’t end in victory or defeat for either side but on destruction of both nations,” he said.

Indian media previously reported that Modi has given his armed forces free rein to decide on the timing, targets and mode of response. Pakistani authorities pledged a “befitting and decisive” response to any military strike.

So far, both sides have restrained themselves to largely diplomatic measures and relatively minor ceasefire violations along their disputed border.

India’s army has accused Pakistan of small-arms firing across the Line of Control for a week, the first violation of a ceasefire since 2021. Military officials from both countries spoke over a direct telephone line on Tuesday to discuss the violations. This is a regular weekly call and doesn’t necessarily indicate tensions are easing, but it demonstrates that some official communication channels are still functioning.

The countries have also slashed the number of envoys, closed airspace for each others’ flights, and India suspended a crucial water-sharing treaty.

Pakistan’s stocks and dollar bonds took a hit in April. The escalating tensions come at a time when the nation’s economy is fragile and dependent on the International Monetary Fund for support.

Indian financial assets are proving relatively immune for now with stocks and local bonds up in April. Markets are closed Thursday for local holidays.

Global intervention

Since achieving independence from Britain in 1947, India and Pakistan have clashed several times over the disputed territory.

The last time the two sides came close to an all-out war was in 2019, when a suicide bomber killed 40 members of India’s security forces. Jaish-e-Mohammed (Soldiers of Mohammed), a Pakistan-based jihadi group, claimed responsibility, prompting India to respond about two weeks later with its first airstrikes on Pakistani soil since 1971.

Following the latest killings, leaders of over a dozen nations including U.S. President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Shigeru Ishiba of Japan, UK’s Keir Starmer, UAE President Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan have called Modi to express solidarity.

China, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states were trying to head off conflict, Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif has said. In a statement Wednesday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia called for de-escalation and resolution through “diplomatic means.”